HORWICH'S under-15s boys' team scooped silver at the Northern Road Relays at Manchester's SportCity.

With a big turnout of clubs from across the north of England, the Harriers team of Toby Middleton, Matthew Flatters and Lucas Milliken lost out to Morpeth Harriers by just seven seconds and beat local rivals Salford Harriers by six seconds – a tremendous result and a tribute to their athletic versatility as they also have each had fine track and fell results this year.

The u15 girls’ team of Eva Baldwin, Lucy Dixon and Izzy Merritt achieved sixth place out of 37 teams and were first Greater Manchester team.

Alyssia Jackson and Freya Whittle made up the second fastest incomplete team.

Coach Andy Townsend described this event as ‘without doubt our finest hour as a road racing squad’.

They now move on to the National Road Relays in two weeks’ time.

The English Schools Fell Running Championships are also highly-competitive and this year at Giggleswick School they were keenly contested by more than 550 young athletes.

For the first time since 2009 the Harriers have a junior fell champion as Charlotte Wilkinson, who has had a great year on the fells, won the Year 7 girls' title running for her school, the Albany Academy in Chorley.

Charlotte received her well-earned prize from Emma Hopkinson, top fell runner and England international.

Harriers Robert Seddon and Ethan Isaacs both ran well for Canon Slade but finished outside the podium places.

Locally, Mad Bull events organised the Rivington Terraced Gardens 5k trail race as a fundraiser for the Heritage Trust that is restoring the gardens to their former glory.

Lindsey Brindle won the race and Fern O’Brien, celebrating her eighth birthday, was eighth female finisher.

Brindle is the club’s women fell captain and is an experienced and very successful fell runner and Fern aspires to be so too.

In parkrun, Richard Howarth, who ranks 66th in the UK in the M40 age category, was first at Cuerden Valley while Gareth Booth, who is 29th at M45 in the UK, was first finisher at Preston.

Lynn Smith and Lesley Davidson had a break from their regular parkrun at Pennington Flash so that they could take on the Coniston 10k trail with Davidson finishing as third LV60.

Tony Hesketh took a well-earned break from racing this week but was organising yet another of the races on the club’s busy calendar, this time the 5k at Rivington where a large number of members turned out and many were rewarded with prizes.

Gordon Stone, meanwhile, ran the One Foot in the Gargrave Challenge over 23 miles and 2,000 feet of ascent.

He finished 21st to add to his admirable roll call of long-distance running.

Horwich RMI Harriers results: James Riley Memorial Cowm Reservoir 5k trail race – 27th David Barnes 21:44;

Coniston 10k trail race – 250th Lynn Smith 1:34:02, 251st Lesley Davidson 1:34:03;

One Foot in the Gargrave Challenge – 21st Gordon Stone 4:43:00.